EID Parry cuts total debt by more than 63%

Sugar manufacturer E.I.D Parry (India) Ltd. has reduced total debt by more than 63% during the current fiscal, CFO A. Sridhar said during an earnings call.

The company had been working to cut debt periodically and the debt position was ‘much better’ compared to what it was as of March, he said. Long-term debt, which was about ₹200 crore in March, had been brought down to ₹101 crore and short-term loans, from ₹355 crore to ₹102 crore, he pointed out.

Asserting that the company was exercising tight controls on borrowing and interest costs, he said the finance cost for the quarter decreased by ₹9.67 crore to ₹12.98 crore.

Suresh Kannan, head, refinery business, said the division did not have any long-term debt on its balance sheet any more. “Currently, we have debt of about ₹800 crore, which is primarily working capital,” he pointed out.

The company has lined up capital expenditure (capex) of ₹364 crore for FY22 and FY23. This included capex for the Bagalkot distillery expansion, which was carried out during the year and the Haliyal expansion, which is currently taking place, Mr. Sridhar said.

S. Suresh, MD, said that during the current year the capacity at Haliyal had been expanded by almost 4,000 TCD (tonnes of cane per day) because of the assets movement from Pudukottai to Haliyal. This would take the total to 11,500 TCD.

On exports, Mr. Suresh said: “As a country I think maybe around 6 million tonnes is what is the requirement so that the prices are maintained. So we are expecting international prices to be favourable.”

“While the export subsidies are yet to be announced, we need to get our volumes from the open general licence and if the prices are better than in the domestic market, then we will find an opportunity to do more exports,” he added.

He pointed out that the decrease in net profit in the second quarter was predominantly due to the export obligation.

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